Back in June at one of our craft beer chats and tastings at the Wynkoop, Branden Miller of Black Shirt Brewing shared the brewery’s plans to add brewing equipment and expand. That moment has arrived. The RiNo red ale specialists are getting ready to start using a freshly delivered 15-barrel brewhouse and six 30-barrel fermenters, upgrading from their original 4-barrel system. Also hiding in the back: a canning line from Boulder-based Wild Goose Canning. That’s right, Black Shirt beer is coming to cans. Co-owner Chad Miller said to expect red ale, red IPA, red porter and red saison to hit liquor stores in early or mid December.

Ed Sealover talks with Jeff Crabtree at Crabtree Brewing in the pilot episode of 'Colorado Brews.'

If you’re the kind of viewer who craves a cocktail when Don Draper reaches for the whiskey, you just might want to have a six pack handy for Rocky Mountain PBS’s latest Colorado feature.

“Colorado Brews” aims to explore the beer industry in Colorado by visiting breweries throughout the state. If the pilot airing at 9:30 p.m. Saturday is well-received, the plan is for a full season this fall with 13 episodes to tell the stories of Colorado’s craft breweries.

Segments will cover food and beer pairing, home brewing, beer festivals and beer technology. The supporting cast includes a chef, David Davis of the Golden Hotel, and a handful of industry bloggers, such as HomeBrew Academy‘s Billy Broas and Colorado Beer Girl‘s Leah Arthur.

“A lot of people already know Colorado is a great beer state, but what this can say is why,” said the show’s host Ed Sealover, a Denver Business Journal reporter and author of “Mountain Brew: A Guide to Colorado’s Breweries.”

What to get the beer aficionado or wanna-be on your Christmas list, besides a spare liver?

As I have for several years, instead of Santa I turn to Chris Black, proprietor of Falling Rock Tap House in LoDo, dispenser of fine ales and lagers since 1997, to gather holiday beers. He knows. Oh, he knows.

This year, we decided to put the six-packs in three categories: newbies, who think they might want get away from watered-down malt and hops to “real” beers; hearty drinkers, those suds veterans who know what they like and lots of it, and the adventurous who think outside the borders of the nation’s greatest craft-beer producer.

All these beers are packaged and available in most area retail outlets. Warning label: Most are high in alcohol (6 percent and above).

NEWBIES

Snow Day, New Belgium Brewing, Fort Collins — Born in a blizzard in 2003, it’s a hoppy, chocolaty winter hearty.

Sen. Mark Udall was in Boulder today visiting a couple of craft breweries – Avery Brewing Co. and Boulder Beer Co. – as he continues to stump for giving tax breaks to breweries big and small.

But more than a year after the introduction of bills that would cut the federal excise tax for brewers, the political prospects are uncertain at best.

The craft brewing industry, which is putting its efforts behind legislation that would benefit brewers not of the macro variety, is pinning its hopes on piggybacking onto broader tax legislation that might emerge in the lame-duck session after November’s election.

“We are talking about a $50 million cost-per-year or less, and that is not even dust in the factory,” said Charlie Papazian, president of the Boulder-based Brewers Association. “It’s a ridiculously small amount. But it means a lot when you look at the perspective of what small businesses could do with that money.”

Our new iPad app serves as a guide to metro Denver’s bountiful breweries, beer bars and bottle shops, the holy trinity of craft beer enjoyment for followers and fans. Download the app for iPad .
Next time you head for a beer in Boulder, don’t forget your friend, Beers of Boulder and Boulder County, an iPad app from the Daily Camera. Download the app for iPad .

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In Colorado, our pint glasses overflow with excellent beer. New breweries, new batches, festivals every other week. How lucky are we? First Drafts is The Denver Post's beer blog aimed at helping you keep tabs on the state's ever-expanding craft beer culture. We offer a mash of news, event coverage, homegrown stories, tasting notes and tips to help you imbibe. Expert drinker or homebrewer? Let us know what you're loving about Colorado's beer scene. Not sure exactly what a firkin is? No worries, let us be your guide. Go ahead. Belly up and drink it in!